[Bang!]
At last Shiryu arrived in front of Sakazuki; the distance between them was only about twenty meters.
This was a small clearing in the woods.
Sakazuki stood with his back against a towering tree, his gaze calm as he looked at his adjutant.
"General Akainu, you… summoned me?"
Shiryu habitually greeted with a wicked smile, though the smile looked somewhat forced.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
After a few seconds of eye contact, Sakazuki spoke astonishingly: "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Huh?"
Shiryu was stunned, then asked in bafflement, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Idiot, are you still going to hide it now? That you have been possessed by the evil god of this world!" Sakazuki shouted, his eyes full of disappointment and fury.
"Or perhaps your mind has been affected by that evil god, which is why you've become so foolish?"
When Imu read Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's memories earlier, he had noticed that Shiryu had been possessed by an evil god.
He had immediately informed Sakazuki and told him to deal with it first.
If he couldn't resolve it, then Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo would intervene, since Shiryu was his adjutant.
Sakazuki was of course greatly shocked to hear this.
He hadn't expected someone close to him to have a problem and for him not to have detected it at all.
He was angry—angry at Shiryu for hiding it and angry at himself for his oversight.
But Sakazuki also suspected that Shiryu's mind was controlled by the evil god.
Fortunately, no great mistake had yet been made, and it might still be salvaged.
So he decided to talk with Shiryu first to see whether his consciousness was normal.
At the same time...
That chilling voice sounded again in Shiryu's mind.
This time it was frantic and irate.
'Ah! What do you mean I made you become foolish?'
'What the hell does that mean? Shiryu, draw your blade and cut him! Cut him!'
'Do you hear me? Kill him, I want to torment his soul!'
Shiryu listened with annoyance and impatiently suppressed the voice in his head: 'Shut up!'
'If I could cut him, I would have done it long ago. Why would I wait until now?'
In reality, Shiryu sighed helplessly: "So it's been discovered after all?"
"But I assure you, my consciousness has not been controlled or influenced in any way."
"You know, my Haki may not be as strong as yours, but it is not much weaker than those Lieutenant Generals."
When Sakazuki heard this, although still doubtful, he nevertheless let out a breath.
"Then why did you hide it?"
Shiryu also relaxed, the wicked grin returning to his face.
"I just felt that being possessed by an otherworldly evil god was nothing to be proud of, so I never took the initiative to tell you. There was absolutely no conspiracy."
At the same time, that chilling hoarse voice once again resounded in his mind.
'Shiryu, what do you mean by that? Are you saying being possessed by me shames you?'
'I am a death god—I gave you an immortal body!'
But this time Shiryu paid it no heed, his mind fully focused on dealing with Sakazuki.
He knew full well that with the slightest mistake, he would be met head-on by a torrent of 'Great Eruption.'
"In that case, then let me see it." Sakazuki gave a cold command.
He wanted to see for himself whether the evil god truly had not affected Shiryu's consciousness.
Before Shiryu could reply, the death god in his mind roared angrily: 'Fine! Let me out, let him see for himself how terrifying I am!'
Shiryu had no choice but to comply.
Under Sakazuki's gaze, he let his body enter 'Death God Form.'
At once, the center of his face, apart from the edges of the eye sockets, turned deathly white like a skull.
The edges of his face and his ears turned pitch black, while at the white area of his brow a black circle appeared.
Sakazuki could see that besides his face, all the other skin exposed on Shiryu's body had turned black with white stripes.
But that was not the main point—the focus was on the semi-transparent white phantoms surging from Shiryu's body.
Before long—a bizarre figure appeared in the air, enshrouding Shiryu: skin ashen-black, a short blade clenched between its teeth, loose white robes draped around its form, and two black horns rising from its head.
Its long yellow hair, as thick as a lion's mane, hung down over its chest.
It fixed Sakazuki with a vicious glare like a malevolent deity.
...
Meanwhile, Imu took Little Kaguya back to the former capital of the Land of Fire, where, above the campus of the "Fire Release Comprehensive Ninja Advanced School," the Noah's Ark existing within a separate space hovered.
As for the matter of Shiryu and the Evil God, after hearing about it from Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, he had no further interest.
This Evil God that the Evil God Cult worshipped was indeed the Death God of the shinobi world—
He was a Death God under the command of the former Lord of the Underworld of the shinobi world.
But the Lord of the Underworld had already been forcefully defeated a thousand years ago by Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, who was then still the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki.
He made the "will of the Underworld" of the shinobi world recognize him as the "Lord of the Underworld."
From that time on, the Death God under the former Lord of the Underworld could only flee from the Pure Land and wander alone in the human realm of the shinobi world.
At that point, since he had already lost the "underworld post"—
He could no longer be considered a Death God; strictly speaking, he was merely a relatively powerful ghostly entity.
And as for Imu—
Since this "Evil God" had neither opposed the World Government nor manipulated Shiryu into committing excessive acts—
There was no need to target him.
He was just a fierce ghost; if Shiryu was willing to accept him, then so be it.
As long as they faithfully served the World Government, that was enough.
By comparison, what Aramaki gained this time was a far greater "cheat" than Shiryu's.
Teleporting back to his study, Imu looked at Little Kaguya who had leapt onto the desk, and asked thoughtfully: "Once the 'White Kama' data is completely frozen, Aramaki will obtain all of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's bloodline and chakra?"
"Yes, what about it?"
Little Kaguya curiously examined the layout of the room, now looking at the "Star Den-Den Mushi" nearby, now at the "Supreme Teigu" shrunken down in the corner of the desk.
"This is a big problem. With Aramaki's power, in half a year he will definitely surpass the current Generals."
Imu sighed inwardly; Aramaki had truly gotten lucky this time.
Though he did not have a giant cube, nor a juvenile Ten-Tails—
Once he grew accustomed to this sudden surge of power, even Garp might not be able to defeat him.
Yet such was life.
Always filled with unexpected events.
All the more since these accidents and opportunities now came from worlds across the multiverse.
Who could know in which world one might encounter a chance to soar to the heavens?
But now he had to think carefully about how to arrange Aramaki.
Fortunately, there were still a few months before the "White Kama" thawed, so Imu set aside the matter of Aramaki with a shake of his head.
"What do you plan to do?"
Imu looked at Little Kaguya on the table. She lifted her head, meeting his gaze with calm eyes.
"What else can I do? Before you decide to awaken the true body, I can only follow you around to take a look."
"And at the same time see just what your World Government is like, and whether it has the ability to oppose the Ōtsutsuki civilization."
After hearing this, Imu replied, "If that's the case, then you cannot follow me, because most of my time next will be spent in the Shinobi World."
"Why? What's there to see in that broken Shinobi World?" Little Kaguya's face was full of doubt.
"Because I must take control of the Shinobi World's planetary will. This requires a certain amount of time."
Though Imu's tone was calm, Little Kaguya's face was instantly covered in shock.
"Controlling planetary will? Such a thing is even possible?"
Even the Ōtsutsuki clan only ever drained planets of their energy.
On those planets occasionally existed so-called gods claiming to represent the world's will, but their power was far too weak.
As for what exactly planetary will was, the Ōtsutsuki did not know, nor had any interest in knowing.
"In any case, if you want to understand the World Government, you must go to Starfish's homeworld."
Imu paused, then added, "This works out well. Since Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama are on Starfish, I'll have someone send you over to them."
Imu then told Little Kaguya of the two men's origins.
"So that's how it is, Hagoromo's bloodline?"
Imu nodded. "There is also Hamura's bloodline. If you wish, I can have someone send you to Hyūga Masato."
"Although his body does not contain special chakra like 'Indra' or 'Asura,' his future son will be a throwback, possessing a true Ōtsutsuki bloodline."
Little Kaguya arched a brow. "A throwback? You can even foresee the circumstances of someone else's future children?"
"More or less. So long as it's a flame on the timeline with enough weight, my eyes can basically see it."
Imu's words were unruffled, as if spoken offhand.
"Alright, then I want to meet all 3 of them." Little Kaguya was already somewhat used to Imu's wonders.
Seeing this, Imu lightly sensed Stussy's location, then directly teleported her into the study.
"Lord Imu?"
Stussy was also accustomed to this manner of summons by Imu, and immediately reacted.
Imu did not say much either. Sitting on the chair, he casually waved out a divine power of black light containing Little Kaguya's information, which instantly shot into Stussy's mind.
Before long, Stussy understood the situation.
"Arrange for CP personnel to escort her to Umigakure. Order Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, and Hyūga Masato to treat her well."
"Yes, Lord Imu."
Stussy nodded in assent, then lowered her head to look at Little Kaguya standing on the tabletop.
She extended her palm and smiled faintly.
"Lady Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, I am Lord Imu's secretary Stussy. Please come with me."
"Not bad. At last I've met someone who understands courtesy." Little Kaguya was very satisfied with her attitude.
Leaving Imu aside, that Aramaki earlier had actually been so discourteous to her.
If not for having no power right now, she would long since have taken action to teach him a lesson.
"Right, I want to tour this big ship first!" Little Kaguya jumped onto Stussy's palm and then made her request.
"This—"
Stussy's eyes looked toward Imu. Imu said calmly: "Anywhere is fine except my bedroom, and the two Celestial Queens' private quarters."
"What are the Celestial Queens' private quarters?"
Little Kaguya had no interest in Imu's bedroom, but she was very sensitive to the term "Celestial Queen."
"I will explain these to you, my lady. Let us go out first."
Stussy placed Little Kaguya upon her own shoulder, then overlapped her hands before her abdomen and gave Imu a slight bow.
She then stepped out of that extremely spacious study on high heels.
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